Fuel-saving device for furnaces



Patented Nov. 6, 1923.

warren stares NELSON J. RUSSELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FUEL-SAVING DEVICE FOR FURNACES.

Application'filed October 24, 1921. Serial No. 509,898.

To aZZ 107mm 42mg concern:

Be it known that I, NnLsoN J. RUssnLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Qh cago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Fuel-Saving Device for Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates, generally, to furnaces, but has particular relation to a fuelsaving device adapted for use in different types of furnaces, stoves, and the like, and it consists in certain peculiarities of the construction, novel arrangement and combination of its parts, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

My present invention has some similarity to the inventions covered.by Letters Patent No. 1,880,597, issued to me on the 7th day of June, 1921. and Letters Patent No. 1,392.453, issued to me on the 4th dayof October, 1921, for improvements in fuelsaving attachments for furnaces, and has for its objects similar ones to those set forth in the last name-d patent, to wit;

To provide a very simple and economical ly constructed yet strong, durable, highly etlicient and movable device to be used in the fire pots or chambers of furnaces, stoves and the like, for supplying pre-heated air and an augmented quantity of oxygen to the burning fuel, andat proper points, in order to effec as'nearly as possible, complete combustion of the fuel and thereby economize in the quantity thereof used.

A further object is to provide a movable and removable device of the above mentioned general character, which can be used in the fire chambers of furnaces and the like with out any changes whatsoever in the construc ticn thereof, and without being permanently attached to any part of the furnace or stove, yet can be so located, or readily shifted or adjusted in its position within the fire charm ber, to furnish air and oxygen at the right point or points to insure the best results in the combustion of fuel.

Cther objects and advantages of the invention will be disclosed in the following description and explanation.

In the accompanying drawing which serves to illustrate an embodiment of the in vention- I Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of the device showing it mounted in a bed of coals on the upper surface of the grate of a fire chamber of a furnace or stove, a fragment of said grate only being shown.

Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectional view of the device taken on line 2- 2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4; is a plan sectional view taken on line 4- 1 of Fig. 2.

Corresponding numerals of reference refer to like parts throughout the different views of the drawing.

A portion of the grate of the fire box or chamber of a furnace, stove or the like, is designated in Fig. 1 by the numeral 5 on the spaced bars 6 of which grate is shown mounted one of my improved fuel-saving devices, partly imbedded in a bed of coals, which fuel it will be understood may lie on and against the upper portion of the device, but for clearness the same has been omitted. The base of the device is designated by the reference numeral 7 and as shown is relatively fiat and hollow with its lower end open. The. base is by preference cylindrical in shape, and has extended upwardly and communicating centrally therewith, an upwardly tapered chimney 8 which is provided on its upper end with, or has mounted thereon, a heating and expansion chamber 9 which is by preference spherical in shape as shown. This chamber or casing 9 is provided therein with a horizontally disposed partition 10 which is located below the-horizontal axial line of the casing 9, and is pro vided near the inner walls of said casing, with a plurality of openings 11 which are of such size to permit of the volume of air discharged upwardly through the upper end of the chimn ey to pass therethrough without undue restriction; in other words, the aggregate size of the openingsll is of such dimensions as to take care of the air discharged frem the top of the chimney."

Located within the casing or chamber 9 above the partition 10 is another horizontal partition 12 which is provided with a central opening 13 which is of smaller area than the aggregate area of the openings 11 in the lower or first named partition. The relation of the partitions 10 and 12 with respect to one another, as well as with respect to the casing 9, are such that the compartment between the partitions will be larger than the compartment between the lower partition 10 and the uppe'r end of the chimney. Just above the partition 12 the wall of the casing 9 is provided with a plurality-of horizontally elongated slots or openings 14, the com-' bined area of which is less than the central opening 13 in the upper pa'rtition lfi of the expansion chamber or casin a The casing 9 is provided on its'outer surface just above. the. narrow slits or slots 14 with an outwardly extended annular flange .15 which co-operates with said slots in V spreading air discharged therethrough horizontally. Mounted on top of the casing- 9 is an inverted bowl-shaped deflector or distributor 16 which as, shown encompasses the upper portion of the casing 9"at adistance therefrom. The member 16 is by preference secured to the casing 9 by means of avertica-l bolt 17 extended through suitable openings in the casing and said member and a nut 18 on the outer end ofsaid bolt.

In order to spacethe member 16 from the topof the casing 9, a spacing element 19 surrounding the bolt 17' is interposed between said casing and element. The poriphery of the deflector or distributor '16 circumscribes the annular flange 15 at a distance therefrom and terminates about flush with the lower wall or surface of said flange thus offering no obstruction to the passage of air horizontally from the casing 9 through the slots 1d thereof. As the distributor member 16 isspaced from the top of the casing as well as from the flange 15, it is obvious that air w ll pass into said space from wh ch 1t Wlll be discharged upjwardly throughopenings 21 with which the deflector or distributorc16 is provided in its upper portion. By the employment of the deflector or distributor 16 it is apparent that an agitation or commotion'of the air in the fire chamber of the furnaceor the like will ibe set up and continuously maintained, to

the end that more perfect combustion of the fuel 'willbe attained.

The device as a whole is provided on its outer surface with spaced vertically eX- tended reinforcing ribs22 which fextend at their upper ends to the slots 1a in theexpansion or heating casing.

. While I have shown said casin e mi 3 )QCl with the air distributor or deflector member 16 and may sometimes employ the same, yet

it will be understood that said member can be dispensed with without departing from the spiritcof the invention.

the drawin From the foregoing, and by reference to and rea'dily seen that by my improvements, I have provided a movable device having at its upper end a casing or chamber provided with a plurality of compartments through which air'e'ntering the hollow base 7 between the grate bars 6 wilhpass through the ehim-' ney 8 thereinto, from the uppermost of it will be clearly" understood which chambers or compartments the" air V will be discharged from the easing into the. fire chamber of the furnace or the like. 7 The practical operation of the device is as follows: r p 7 @One or more of them is or are placed on the grate bars 6 of the furnace as shown in Figs. 1 and 2', when the fuel, ordinarily coal,- may be placed in the fire box of the furnacearound said device or devices and on top of the same if so desired. 'Now,after the" fire has been started or is inpro'gress within thefire boX, cool atmospheric air under the grate or from the ash pit will ascend throughthe hollow base 7, the tapered chimney 8, and enter the lower compartment 'ofthezexpansion chamber or casing, in which passage it 7' will strike the central portion of the lower partition 10 and be deflected towards the openings 11 therein through which open vings it will pass, intothe intermediate compartment, or the opening between the partitions 10 and 12 of the expansion casing. Duringthis operation, it will beunderstood that the fire inthe fire chamber of the furnace is burning around the device and consequently heating the same. In the aforesaid action of the air the pressure of the of said casing, and. as the outlet'of the inter- 'medlate compartment is restricted, it is manifest that the air within the intermediate compartment will be retained therein until it becomes heated to a very high degree of temperature, I The air passes from the intermediate chamber through the open:

mg 13 into the upper chamber of thecasing 9 where it'will be further detained owing to the fact that the openings or slots 14 are smaller in their combined areas than the discharge opening 13-of' the intermediate compartment.

1 By this detention of the: air, it will "be further heated and expanded to the end that 1t will be. discharged through the narrow slots 14; into the fire box of the furnace with sufficiei'itpressure to causeit-tosp'read hori= V 'z'ontally'over the tween the. grate. The

flange 1'5 ofithe. member 9 will assist in so spreading the air and when the distributor or deflector 16 is employed, it is'manifest that its lower edge will also aid in the horizontal disposition of the discharged air 7 from the expansion easing; Furthermore, when the member 16 is employed, it is manifest that the jets or streams of air passing from the chamber 9 through the'slots14 thereof will c'o-act with the membergl6 in such a way as to create agitation orcommotion of'the air aroundand' aboveth'e device.

By the use of my device, and through its peculiar construction and location within the fire box of the furnace and in conjunction with the draft of the flue or smokestaclr of the latter, an ample supply of fresh air and oxygen will be supplied to the fire of the furnace in such a manner that almost perfect combustion will be effected, thereby economizing in the loss of fuel which usually escapes through the smoke-stack in the form of smoke and un consumed particles of carbon.

While I have shown the parts of the device as being circular in shape, and prefer to so make the device, yet I do not desire to be limited to such form, and besides, I do not desire to be limited in the construction of the expansion chamber of the device as having three compartments as shown in the drawing and above described, as I may construct it with a plurality of compart ments, without a departure from the in vention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A fuel-saving device consisting of a relatively flat hollow base having its lower portion open, an upright chimney mounted on the upper surface of the base in communication with the cavity thereof, and a casing on the upper portion of the chimney and in communication therewith, said casing having a plurality of communicating chambers and provided with a horizontally disposed opening leading from one of the chambers of said casing.

2. A fuel-saving device consisting of a relatively flat hollow base having its lower portion open, an upright chimney mounted on the upper surface of the base in communication with the cavity thereof, and a casing on the upper portion of the chimney in communication therewith, said casing hav ing a plurality of communicating chambers and provided with a horizontally disposed opening leading from one of the terminal chambers.

3. A fuel-saving device consisting of a relatively flat hollow base having its lower portion open an upright chimney mounted on the upper surface of the base in communication with the cavity thereof, and a casing on the upper portion of the chimney in communication therewith, said casing having a plurality of super-imposed communicating chambers and provided with a horizontally disposed. opening leading from one of the terminal chambers of said casing, the said opening being of less size than the opening between said terminal chamber and the ch amber adj acent' thereto.

t. A fuel-saving device consisting of a relatively flat hollow base having its lower portion open, an upright chimney mounted on the upper surface of the base in communication with the cavity thereof, and a casing on the upper portion of the chimney in communication therewith, said casing having a plurality of superimposed communicating chambers and provided with a horizontally disposed opening leading from one of the chambers and on its outer surface a horizontally oisposed flange located above said opening.

In a fuel-saving device of the class described, the combination with a relatively flat hollow base having its lower portion open, of an upright chimney mounted on the upper surface of the base in communi cation with the cavity thereof, a casing on the upper portion of the chimney in communication therewith, said casing having a plurality of communicating chambers and provided with a horizontally disposed opening leading from one of the chambers of said casing, and an inverted perforated bowl-shaped member mounted on the top of said casing in spaced relation thereto and having its lower edge disposed outwardly and above said horizontally disposed opening.

6. A fuel-saving device consisting of a relatively flat hollow base having its lower portion open, an upright chimney mounted on the upper surface of the base in communication with the cavity thereof, and a casing on the upper portion of the chimney in communication therewith, said casing hav ing therein a pair of horizontally disposed and spaced partitions and provided with a horizontally disposed opening leading from apoint above the upper partition, each of said partitions having at least one opening therein, the said horizontally disposed opening being of less size than the opening in the upper partition, and the openings in the lower partition being of such aggregate size as to permit air to pass therethrough from the chimney without undue restriction, and the opening in the upper partition being of less area than the aggregate area of the openings in the lower partition.

NELSON J. RUSSELL, 

